Dwight Howard Understands LA Fans Hating Him

Lakers fans and Clippers fans rarely see eye-to-eye. It seems the only thing that can bring both sides together, is the city of Los Angeles’ collective dislike of Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard. The big fella was booed by Clips supporters last night, and Howard says he totally gets it. Per the Houston Chronicle: “Our goal is to win the championship, not just one game,’ Howard said after the Rockets shootaround at UCLA. ‘You’re not going to prove anything by winning one game. It’s what we do at the end of the season, if we’re holding up the trophy. That’s the best thing to show other people, ‘Hey, he made a decision and look what happened.’ That’s what I want to do. It’s not about beating one team. I want to win the whole thing.’ [...] ‘It’s over with,’ Howard said of his decision to leave the Lakers as a free agent after one disappointing season. ‘I mean, there’s no need to talk about it. Things happen. It wasn’t the best situation for anybody. I made a decision to move on with my life. I’m in a much better place than I was last season mentally, physically. I think I made the best decision for Dwight. I’m in a very good place. These guys have been great since Day 1. Kevin (McHale has been amazing.) I’m happy. I’m really happy.’ [...] Howard does have experience under these circumstances with last season’s return to Orlando. But he laughed at a comparison between returning to Los Angles and Orlando where he was heartily booed. ‘This is a totally different situation,’ Howard said. ‘I was in Orlando for eight years. That was my home. I grew up in Orlando. Going back home was tough for me. It was tough for a lot of the fans there. The situation was completely different. I never tried to do anything to hurt these people in LA. I understand their passionate about their team. You do something that is best for you, everybody might not like it. They tend to react in crazy ways. I’ve seen the jerseys getting burned and the Coward jerseys, all that stuff. That’s just fans being passionate about their team. It’s totally understandable. I have nothing bad to say about those people.’”